Taken to court by credit card company

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Chances are they won't bring you to court over such low balances but they still can. If you are only paying small amounts than the interest may be increasing your balance quicker than you can pay it. For such a small amount just call them and make arrangements. A $300 bad debt looks the same on your credit report as a $3000 bad debt (sort of).

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Sadly this is not true for credit card companies.

They are either going to garnish your wages or put a lien on your home, depending on your state. If it's garnishment, they can only do a %, not sure what that is though. Why did you not do bankruptcy? They have the repayment kind now that helps structure everything and keep this from happening. Make sure you show up at the summons. I am not sure if explaining your situation will do any good, but it's worth a try. Nothing will be done for you if you don't show up. You might be able to get an income based atty. Where I am we have the United Way, they would point you in the right direction. Not sure if you have something like that or not.

As far as harassement is concered, it depends on the level. There was a man that recently won a 1.5 million dollar judgement against a credit card company that called him a lazy N word. It was taped. Oops.

I had to file bankruptcy when I was pregnant with my son. He was unexpected, and it was either have a child or pay the bills. Not such a hard choice.

 

[Bawk Vader]

I went to court for the same thing and requested from the court to have a payment plan agreed upon. The Judge was very nice about the whole thing and I was in a room with about 50 other cases for the same thing. The judge had the attorney and me go to a room and find an agreeable solution to payment of the debt. His clerk then documented the agreement and we signed on it. I paid it out over time and it was all taken care of. I was a bit frightening not knowing what I was going into.

 

[rachaelc]

WEll, after reading your friendly advice plus the other thread on bankruptcy last night,I decided to talk to a lawyer about the "B" word
SO I calmed and collected myself, said a prayer to the universe to provide what it could to assist me and that I would trust that ,AND, called a friend who recommended I call a well known Bankruptcy firm in Portland(30) miles away and see if they could recommend someone closer in my town. They were very friendly, knew their was someone they could recommend and called me right back with a name and number and a refferal. I called the office. They could see me in 15 minutes if I could make it as they had an open morning,(which receptionist said never happens) So Of I went. This debt is not the only one I have, long story short it is but the least half of it. So I will proceed with a bankruptcy. Apologize if that offends any one, but it is my best recourse at this time. Again, thank you for your suggestions and support.
Rachael C
mother of all

 

[sune42]

Quote:
I suggested the restructure because it would provide structure for the OP's payments without taking away from important stuff like home and lights. It was not a ridiculous suggestion, because, 1. to some people 10k is an huge amount. No offense to the OP but if I was in that much debt I would cry. Secondly, this is one debt, chances are there are 3 other cards in her wallet (average American has 3-5 lines of revolving credit and a closed ended loan of some type) and with one account having a 10k credit limit, the others are surely just as high. This is based of my experience working for a major credit card company in their collections department and may not be anything close to OP's situation, but it's the average.

 

[sune42]

Quote:
Rachael, glad to hear you found a solution. Best of luck to you. Don't worry about offending anyone, you didn't ask for him to be out of work.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
I suggested the restructure because it would provide structure for the OP's payments without taking away from important stuff like home and lights. It was not a ridiculous suggestion, because, 1. to some people 10k is an huge amount. No offense to the OP but if I was in that much debt I would cry. Secondly, this is one debt, chances are there are 3 other cards in her wallet (average American has 3-5 lines of revolving credit and a closed ended loan of some type) and with one account having a 10k credit limit, the others are surely just as high. This is based of my experience working for a major credit card company in their collections department and may not be anything close to OP's situation, but it's the average.

I see your reasoning and assumed there was more debt too. However, to address the facts as presented in the first post, a bankruptcy, whether chapter 7 or 13, would still be a mistake in my opinion, regardless of the income. Right now bankruptcy is at a cyclical high and the predators (lawyers and collection agencies) are either trying to sell people on it or forcing them into it. The reality is many people can negotiate with creditors before any of these debts go into litigation.

It's true that $10k to some is a large amount of money but if that is the case and their income is very low then no judge is going to order high payments on it. Debt is relative. I wish mine was only $10K.

Bankruptcy, while easy in terms of the paperwork and courts, does have it's costs, financial, emotional and others. It should be used as a last resort only.

All too often we discuss very serious issues on BYC and many spew out opinions based on very few facts. Sometimes people listen to the advice too and that's scary.

 

[chickabator]

capital one took me to court sent a summons never said when to go got a letter in the mail saying they found in their favor now instead of 300.00 I owe over 1600.00 they put a lein on my home, cant sell it. and guess what me and dh are both out of work with no income what so ever coming in. Both of us are too ill to work have applied for disability denied 2x's still don't have a court date, don't know what is gonna happen with us. I know internet and phone are going in 2 months so won't be on here anymore. sorry, sometimes life stinks but it can't all be roses. we will manage somehow by the grace of God.

 

[rachaelc]

Thanks Amanda,

Appreciate the well wishes. The world is changing so fast, I have really looked very hard at our lifes and how we live and been reading some good books, Depletion and Abundance,Independance Days- food preservation and storage, Radical Homemakers.
I know exactly how we got into debt and I really wish to not get back to credit cards and unquestioning consumerism,, we had a severe medical issue with our 30 yr old son that reallt taxed the cc;s and Im glad we had them, living in Seattle for a month while he was in ICU ,and various other unseen medical issues, etcetera. But I want life to be a lot less complex and wrapped up in non essential stuff. Guess thats a comin my way now.

Rachael C
mother of all, 4 blue wyandottes,2 partridge cochins,2speckled sussex,2white brahmas,rir,sweetpie,andalusian, 3cats, 2 dogs, 2 finches , fruit,vegetable,flower gardens inthe front and backyard.

 

[rachaelc]

Quote:
Yes, the 10,000 was just the one big fish, there is a number of others about 15,000 to add in to the big one. I agree just the 10,000 could be worked out, but I have recived 3 letters freom other companies and their attornies notifying me that they are now reviewing my case. The other piece is the precariousness of the job market, My husband is the main bread winner and if we agreet opay and then lose work or are layed off again we can not honor all our agreements,
Its very
perplexing,,

Thanks for your feedback!
Rachaelc